Hurricanes Record Season-High ’21’ Runs, En Route to Series Sweep Over #17 Virginia Tech

The Miami Hurricanes baseball team recorded their first Atlantic Coast Conference series sweep of the 2023 season.

LifeWallet athlete and Miami third baseman, Yohandy Morales, delivered a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting Miami to a 4-3 victory over the 17th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies on Friday night.

Miami would keep the pace going in a double-header on Saturday to sweep the Virginia Tech Hokies. 

The Hurricanes bats would stay hot against the Hokies on Saturday, blasting away a 21-6 victory in the opening game of the doubleheader, where the Hurricanes would record seven home runs, becoming the fourth-most in a single contest in school history.

That 21-6 victory would come just before the Canes rallied for a comeback 12-9 win, after trailing 6-0 in game two of the doubleheader.

“I’m proud of our players,” Miami head coach Gino DiMare said. “A lot of guys did a lot of positive things today. Sweeping a doubleheader doesn’t happen very often. It’s extremely hard to do, but you’ve got to give a lot of credit to our hitters. We’ve got some guys cooking right now.”

Fifth-year senior transfer Dario Gomez, juniors CJ Kayfus, Zach Levenson, Carlos Perez and Dominic Pitelli and sophomores Dorian Gonzalez, Jr. and Gaby Gutierrez all knocked it out of the park, as Miami notched a season-high 21 runs and 23 hits on Saturday.

The Hurricanes scored in each of their final six trips to the plate, including a 10-run seventh inning, highlighted by three home runs.

“Honestly, I’m just super excited to see that we’re playing the baseball that we all knew we could,” CJ Kayfus said. “It’s just awesome to be a part of this team. Everybody has each other’s backs.”

Kayfus led the way during Saturday’s sweep, homering thrice and plating seven runs in nine attempts at bat.

“I can’t imagine a hitter more confident than him [Kayfus] in the country right now,” DiMare said of Miami’s first baseman. “He can hit it all over the field. He’s pulling the ball, hitting the ball up the middle and hitting it to left field. That’s his MO and that’s what he does. That’s why he’s one of the better hitters in the country.”

Recently anointed ACC Pitcher of the Week, Gage Ziehl, would strike out eight batters from the Hokies over five innings of one-run baseball to add his aid in the win.

After dropping the first two games of the series, Virginia Tech would take an early ‘six’ run lead in the finale, through the first three and a half innings but Miami would just not concede.

From that point on, the Hurricanes would outscore Virginia Tech, 12-3, through the course of the final four and a half innings, highlighted by a six-run eighth inning frame.

Trailing 9-6 heading into the bottom of the eighth, Miami’s offense would catch fire once again during the series.

The first seven Hurricanes would reach base, then Gaby Gutierrez would hit the game-winning RBI double.

“This is what we come here for,” Gaby Gutierrez said. “We’re dogs and we’re here to fight. There’s no quit in this team.”

Right-handed pitcher, Alejandro Torres, would record his second win of the year, tossing two innings out of the bullpen. In addition, LifeWallet athlete and Miami right-handed closer, Andrew Walters, secured the series sweep for the Canes by pitching a scoreless ninth frame.

Next up for Miami, the Canes will take on the Florida Atlantic University Owls. A team Miami had lost to this season, by a score of 6-5 in February. First pitch is set for 6:00 P.M. EST, at Mark Light Field, and the game will be broadcast on the ESPN+ app.